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Personality traits are the enduring characteristics of a person's personality, that can be used to explain and predict the observed regularities and consistencies in peoples behavior and to explain the differences between individuals. Traits are hypothesised constructs such as neuroticism or extraversion.

Traits are permanent characterisitcs; states are temporary. However, traits can be changed; doing so, however, does not come naturally and requires much more work than changing states, which may be involuntary (e.g. feeling sad because you lost your money). Trait theory offers ideas as to how traits arise and are maintained.

States can sometimes eclipse traits; for example, a person who is normally cheerful might behave the opposite if he/she is in a 'bad mood'.

Also, traits can sometimes resemble states. For example, tendency to hold a grudge, a trait, would be increased if the person is in a bad mood (a state). The increased tendency to hold a grudge is a state as it will not stay on permanently after the person is out of his/her bad-mood state.